Knights Teutonic

The Knights Teutonic, also called the Teutonic Knights, German Order, The Order, The Lords in White Capes, The Order of German Knights, Order of the Cross, or Teutonic Order, was a German military order that was based at Acre from 1192 until 1291. The order switched capitals many times, but their main base of activity was actually at Marienburg in the Baltic regions. The Knights Teutonic fought a series of wars against the pagans during the Northern Crusades, from 1132 until the end of the Teutonic State in 1521. They abandoned their state and from 1521 until 1929 were a military order. Since then, they have become a simple religious order.

Background
The Knights Teutonic were founded under Hungarian sovereignty in the city of Acre in 1192, and they controlled port tolls. Only in 1230 did they move to the Baltic, taking part in the Livonian Crusade. The Kingdom of Poland invited them to defend against the pagan Livonians, Samogitians, Prussians, and other Baltic tribes, but they took advantage of their host and took over several castles. They set up a permanent headquarters at Marienburg and fought a series of devastating wars against the pagans with aid from the Holy Roman Empire.

They did not only take part in the Northern Crusades, but their leader Meister Sibrand took part in the Third Crusade in 1191. He was assassinated by the Hashshashin in Acre because he was a secret member of the Knights Templar as well. The Teutonic Knights assisted in the defense of Acre from the Mamelukes in 1291, but they were eventually defeated and driven out, forced to seek refuge in Venice until 1319. They stayed in Marienburg until 1466, Konigsberg until 1525, Mergentheim until 1809, and from then until now, Vienna.

The Teutonic Knights were also involved in the wars with the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire. In 1241 they fought at the Battle of Leignitz, where they were defeated along with the Kingdom of Poland, and opened up trade agreements with the Mongols in the 1250s. During that time, crusading noble Charles arrived with his own small army to fulfill his crusading duties, helping them in a naval assault on Palanga in 1254 and the capture of Siauliai in 1257. By 1260 Vilnius had fallen to the Knights Teutonic, who proceeded to assault the last stragglers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. But they were locked in stalemate from then until the 1400s, by which time Poland had come to aid Lithuania. They defeated the Knights at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1410 and won the Thirteen Years War of 1454-1466. By 1525 the Pope had ordered the Teutonic Knights to leave the Baltics, so they abandoned their state to the Prussians.